


An Evening Out

by KMKH



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dialogue, First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Hanging Out, Humor, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 13:41:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20228770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KMKH/pseuds/KMKH
Summary: Merlin has some remarks to make about a stranger who stares at Arturia at the bar.





	An Evening Out

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to Christy for giving me advice about Merlin's personality in Fate/Grand Order!!!!!

…

…

…

Rin had taken off the moment they arrived and was currently on the dance floor with Shirou. Arturia had firmly refused to follow them and was at the bar, slowly sipping on a drink, with Merlin next to her who did not hold back in letting her know how critical he was of her reticence in ‘having fun’.

“Your behaviour at bars is positively childish, Arturia,” he kept repeating, shaking his head in disappointment, letting his white hair almost fall into his eyes.

His reprimanding however lasted much less than usual, because after a short time, they both noticed that there was a tall, blond man who had been staring at Arturia for quite a while from the other side of the room. As they had both their backs to the counter – so that Arturia could keep an eye on Rin – it was impossible to miss the attention the stranger was blatantly bestowing on Arturia.

“Arturia,” Merlin half-whispered, his tone becoming excited as he looked in the stranger’s direction with interest, “you must have noticed–”

“I have,” Arturia interrupted him quickly, not wanting the stranger to notice that her friend was staring back at him. “But there’s no–”

Completely ignoring her, Merlin eagerly pointed out, “Honey, he’s been staring at you for the past hour.” His tone was matter-of-fact. “_And_ he’s hot.”

“Merlin!” Arturia hissed, starting to become flustered at her friend’s comments.

“No need to get possessive, I don’t think he’s my type,” Merlin said in what was clearly meant to be a soothing tone – as if that was what she had been worried about, Arturia thought in exasperation. “Besides, as I just _told_ you, he’s quite fixated on _you_. So you really should go for it – especially since there are some very cute girls here and, once you finally act, I can stop being your babysitter for the night.”

Arturia glared at her friend, knowing very well how much he enjoyed flirting. For lack of better options and trying to overcome her mortification at his continuous teasing, she took a sip from her drink.

“He could very well be a creep,” she considered, attempting to make her friend see reason.

Merlin, however, merely shot her a no-nonsense kind of look.

“Sweetheart, didn’t you see who he talked to earlier? He is acquainted with _Iskandar_, not with the King of Creepiness Ryuunosuke,” he reminded her, something in his voice hinting at the fact that his patience was running thin.

“But he doesn’t seem to be like Iskandar at all,” Arturia let slip, inadvertently revealing that she had been unable to stop herself from repeatedly stealing glances at the stranger as well.

Merlin immediately picked up on it, turning his head to stare at her while a wide grin appeared on his face.

“Ah-ha! Caught you at last, sneaky one! Oh sugar, you’ve been ogling him as much as he does you, at the very _least_, haven’t you?”

“I’m not – that’s not – I do not ogle anyone!” Arturia protested, rather too strongly and stuttering slightly.

Merlin’s smirk merely widened.

“Sure, darling, and I’m a brunette.” He looked at her with a small smile of superiority. “I think I’ve seen enough though. Run along now, go make out with that hot piece of man there. Or, alternatively, if you want to do things the _boring way_, go out with him.”

Appalled, vainly trying to hold on to her composure, Arturia hissed, “I am not going spend my time with him, much less _go out to eat_ with this stranger…!”

Merlin observed, as if it was entirely obvious, “Well, that is actually true, you could instead let him eat _you_ – much more pleasurable for sure!”

Arturia shot him a look filled with profound disapproval and betrayal, momentarily incapable of formulating a reply, and he took advantage of it.

“This is getting ridiculous, dearie, which means that I will have to be more drastic. So, if you don’t go to him, _I _will,” Merlin threatened, grinning evilly.

Arturia’s eyebrows rose in mild confusion.

“But didn’t you just say…”

“I am considering dragging him here for you, if you don’t move now,” he clarified, looking her dead in the eye, showing that he was serious. “Unless you–”

Arturia couldn’t help glaring again.

“Merlin, I am _not_ going to–”

“Oh, too bad, it seems I won’t have to intervene after all,” Merlin chirped suddenly, as he looked over her shoulder and a very smug expression settled on his features.

She didn’t need to turn around to understand that the handsome stranger was making his way towards them. Merlin gave her an innocent smile that didn’t fool her for a second.

“Well, Arturia, as everything is seemingly going for the best, I’ll leave you two alone. Don’t mess this up.” He leaned a little closer to her, lowering his voice conspiratorially. “As the self-proclaimed guardian of the happiness in your life, I put condoms in your bag earlier, to make sure you can _misbehave_ responsibly.”

With a grin that was entirely too self-satisfied, he merrily bounced away, and Arturia was left silently fuming on her own.

Had she been alone, she would have immediately checked her bag to find out what else Merlin had managed to slip in there; she had made the mistake of briefly giving it to him while she had gone to move the car, since Rin had misguidedly parked in front of a private gate. But since Merlin – the worst chaperone _ever_ – had left her alone, she was now going to have to face the possible stalker, or murderer, or creep, who had been staring at her throughout the evening, on her own.

The unknown man was now standing in front of her, and he nodded at her in greeting.

“Hi,” Arturia replied simply, not believing there was much else she could say when her thoughts were still focused on the rather violent methods she could employ to take her revenge on Merlin.

The man tilted his head to the side as he easily and elegantly took a seat near her, close enough to be able to talk to her but not _too_ close at the same time.

“Was that your father?” he asked conversationally, and Arturia’s mouth almost dropped open in shock.

It was true that Merlin had silvery-white hair, but from there to considering him her father… well, she was certain her friend’s expression was going to be _priceless_ once she told him about this. And, she realized, she had just found a perfect revenge plan, since she could always use the misconception of him being her father the next time she found him flirting too much…

It seemed that the first exchange she was having with the stranger was actually starting to look unexpectedly interesting.

In spite of her better judgement, she found herself smiling slightly.

“Absolutely not. He’s a close friend of mine.”

“One who seemed rather eager to push you towards me,” he replied with a small smirk, confirming the fact that he had indeed been watching her rather intently. “You didn’t seem to share his enthusiasm… although I did not miss the fact that you glanced quite frequently in my direction.”

She had no idea how to reply without lying, and she decided that if she was going to continue a conversation with this stranger either way, honesty was going to be the best policy.

“I did that because _you_ were staring at me,” she said bluntly. “What was that all about? Oh, and,” she added, “my name is Arturia. Who are you?”

His smirk became more pronounced, and his body turned slightly, showing that he was now giving her his full attention.

“I am Gilgamesh, and you intrigue me, Arturia,” he replied with equal bluntness, and she couldn’t help appreciating such frankness, even if it unsettled her slightly at the same time, since she was not used to being the object of such genuine interest. “I look forward to learning much, much more about you.”

…

…

…

Five years later, after a rather long engagement period, when Arturia got married to Gilgamesh, Merlin was the one to walk her down the aisle.

It was an incredibly emotional moment, and nothing could affect its significance, not even the fact that her friend kept muttering under his breath, pretending to be annoyed, “Seriously, Arturia, I am _not_ your father.”

…

…

…


End file.
